Pet Peeve 1,247...

People who don't parent their own children at the park (or any public venue for that matter.)

Today we went to the park with Liz and Val and there was this group of less than well behaved children who were using sticks as guns, poking each other with them, pouring sand on my girls heads, and whacking Val in the face with a stick (though this last was just due to carelessness and not paying attention to the stick they had in their hand) all while their mothers sat on a bench and socialized. At one point, one of the Moms called out. "We don't play with sticks." Seriously, is that all it takes in her mind? The only other thing said to the children was, "5 minutes" meaning they had 5 minutes left before they were going home.

I'm appalled to say I overheard them speaking of homeschooling meetings as I am seriously considering homeschooling the girls. However, I hope that these parents and children are not indicative of the homeschooling community.